Instagraph

Instagraph is a popular Instagram client for our Windows Phone that was the first to allow uploads to the photo sharing network. The Windows Phone photography app was updated today to version 2.6 and adds new features to both the Windows Phone 7.x and 8 versions.

The Windows Phone 8 version gets forty-five new effects filters that are powered by Nokia's imaging SDK. Everything from an antique filter to a cartoon rendition to a lomo filter. Instagraph also gets lens support with the Windows Phone 8 version allowing you to launch the app from the camera lens selection.

While we still have yet to see an official Instagram app for Windows Phone, we do have several rather appealing Instagram clients that allow us to tap into the network and share photos of our dinner, pets, scenic views, ourselves, and anything else we find interesting in the world.

While there are several options to access your Instagram account and/or share images to Instagram from our Windows Phones, we see four apps leading the pack with regards to Instagram clients. All are very capable apps in their own right and we've touched on each before. In this week's roundup we revisit these four and give the low down on each for those new to Windows Phones or for those just getting interested in Instagram.

Oh... and to avoid having to say this repeatedly, none of these apps are official Instagram client apps and not a product of Instagram.

While users on Windows Phone have been enjoying the ability to post to Instagram both unofficially (Instagraph, Instance, etc.) and officially (Hipstamatic Oggl), there has been one complicated and vexing issue haunting people: tags.

The concern can be best explained as thus: when users post using third party apps from Windows Phone, those images are not searchable if they use a hashtag. For example, if you publish using Instance with the hashtag “#wp8” in theory when you use the search key to find other photos with “#wp8”, you should see your latest post indexed. However, this is not the case as your image will be hidden.

Rudy Huyn, the developer working on the forthcoming 6tagram app has posted an article via his blog explaining the situation. The news is not very good and highlights the continued cat and mouse game between Windows Phone developers and the services they are trying to make apps for.

Instagram has evidently made one more change, hopefully the last, to their API for publishing photos to the service. We can now confirm that users can upload to the network using third party apps like Instance, and that those photos are public (unlike the last change). That’s an improvement from yesterday, where posting was blocked only to return later, but with photos marked as ‘private’.

At this point, it is unclear if Instagram is reversing course out of good will or if this was part of their plan, with the side effect of monkeying with third-party apps. Regardless, if you have Instance on your Windows Phone, you should be able to directly post without any compromises. No telling how long that will last though.

With the recent "security changes" from Instagram, causing all third party apps from being blocked from posting, we figured we’d recap at least two ways that we know of that still work. Think of these as your permanent fail-safes in case this is a prolonged outage or as a temporary solution until Daniel Gary (Instance) and others figure out a way around the problem.

To recap, using apps like Instance allows users to post to their Instagram account, but after about fifteen seconds, the image is deleted. That means somehow Instagram has flagged images uploaded by unauthorized apps in a clever way that has befuddled developers so far. But you can still post via other apps—one official, the other a hack.

The version 8.5 update moves Fhotoroom away from HTML 5 for a more pure, native app experience. Fhotoroom also adds integration with Instagraph to allow you to share your edited images to Instagram. You still have direct sharing with Facebook, Flickr and Twitter. When you choose Instagraph in the sharing options you'll be sent to the Instagraph app where you can crop, add filters, add hashtags/captions and upload the image to Instagram.

Pictures Lab is a Windows Phone editor that offers a wide selection of editing tools such as effects filters, cropping tools, and exposure adjustments. The photography app is available for both Windows Phone 7.x and 8 devices and the Windows Phone 8 version was recently updated.

The version 5.4 brings Instagram sharing via our Instagraph Windows Phone app along with fixes for a few issues with the native Twitter integration and other minor bugs.

Facebook held a new product event today and the possibility of an official Instagram app for Windows Phone was briefly mentioned.

In a nutshell contrary to the rumors there isn't a Windows Phone Instagram app going to be released next week. But the door wasn't slammed shut and double bolted on the idea of a Windows Phone Instagram app either.

Instagram is a unique social network that relies more on your photographs than your words. It's a tremendously popular service that, for whatever reason, has steered clear of an "official" Windows Phone app.

But have no fear, there are some creative minds out there and several "unofficial" Instagram apps have popped up in the Windows Store. In the beginning, most were simply viewers to let Windows Phone users look at but not touch the Instagram community.

We now have two fairly decent Instagram clients that not only let you look at the Instagram community but also upload images as well. While the number of apps are still on the thin side, we decided to roundup a few that stand out.

The popular Instagram client Instagraph was updated just a short while ago to version 2.0 and as promised, Metrogram is now part of the mix. The two apps really didn't become one but rather integrated where you can access Metrogram's features from within Instagraph and visa versa.

The Metrogram integration is only for the Windows Phone 8 version of Instagraph. Windows Phone 7.x users shouldn't feel left out in the cold though.

Instagram is here for Windows Phone, unofficially at least now that Itsdagram is in the Store. But if there’s one thing we like, it's competition. And soon we’ll see another app in the Store that will allow you to upload, view, comment and more to Instagram. We’ve already told you that Instagraph and Metrogram have plans to join forces. Here’s your first sneak peak.

It’s been awhile in the making but Instagraph, the first Instagram uploader for Windows Phone, has just received a pretty hefty update, which also brings support for Windows Phone 7.x users.

Version 1.4.3 is now live in the Store for all devices and has been dropped in price to just $0.99. We should also mention that there are no longer any limits on uploads anymore, making this a good option for many users who want a “legal” way to upload pics to Instagram.

Instagraph is an unofficial Instagram app for Windows Phone, which enables consumers to upload and share photos with other users. Utilising a workaround to get past restrictions with Instagram APIs, the team has gone from only allowing a limited number of submissions to no limits at all. The team has improved its service since launch and an update is planned for the near future.

There are a few criticisms levied against Instagraph, the third party “work around” for Instagram on Windows Phones, including price, upload limits and feature set. That last one is a bit interesting because as of right now, users can only upload photos to Instagram but they would need another app to view their friends’ feed, comment, share photos, etc.

That’s coming to an end though as Metrogram and Instagraph are air-high-fiving to bring a single use system. We’ve actually been privy to the info for awhile (shocked?) but it wasn’t our place to announce the news. But now the developer behind Metrogram, a highly stylized Instagram viewer that we recently covered, has posted a pic teasing the pseudo-merger (see above).

Instagraph landed in the Windows Phone Store last week. The app had a rough start but seems to be going strong at the moment, letting users upload pictures to their Instagram accounts on Windows Phone, sans iOS or Android. The one thing it can't do it, is view apps on the popular social network. Instead you've got some fairly good apps in the Store that let you view, comment and like photos on Instagram. One of those is Metrogram.

What’s that? We almost went a day without discussing the Windows Phone unofficial Instagram app, Instagraph? We’ll fix that by mentioning how it has been, well, fixed.

We reported yesterday that there were two issues affecting users, including a placeholder image being occasionally used in place of a submitted photo and long delays in publishing. Luckily, both issues have seemingly been fixed as queuing for uploads has been reduced to less than 5 minutes (from our experience) and the placeholder posting bug was also squashed.

With the launch yesterday of Instagraph, the unofficial Instagram app for Windows Phone, some issues were to be expected—after all, this isn’t just a simple Instagram posting app. Indeed, there are two big complaints right now including delays in posting images and having the wrong image posted instead of the user's own.

Despite some ramblings on the internet it’s not other people’s images that are being accidentally posted by Instagraph, but a demo one, which while annoying is not as sensational as some have made it. The problem was server-side, has been patched and will be back online in the next 12-24 hours (maybe sooner).

Whether you like it or not, Instagram is here to stay as a social network. Whatever plans Facebook has in the future are irrelevant, today it’s a huge platform for a lot of users. Its presence (or absence) makes or breaks potential smartphone purchases by the active 90 million users. Windows Phone still doesn’t have an official app, but Instagraph is a good workaround for right now. From the forums, here’s another slightly more involved way to get pictures up to Instagram without using an iPhone or Android device.